Jury convicted Marvin T. Harris on auto thefts, fleeing police

Admitted drug dealer Marvin T. Harris said he feared for his life, and a Dec. 3, 2011 confrontation with Vincent Sims in Boynton Beach wasn't going to end with just angry words. One of them was likely to die.

"When you see a drug deal go sour, it can only end up in one of two ways," Harris, 34, testified this week during his trial on attempted murder and robbery charges.

A Palm Beach County jury later accepted Harris' argument that he set fire to Sims, 41, in self-defense, outside a residence in the 200 block of Southeast Fifth Avenue.

But while the jurors acquitted on those serious counts after an hour of deliberations Thursday, the six-member panel convicted Harris of four other charges: one felony count of fleeing or attempting to elude police at reckless high speeds, two felony counts of grand theft auto, and one misdemeanor count of resisting an officer without violence.

Harris, formerly of West Palm Beach, faces a sentence of up to 51 years in state prison when he is sentenced Dec. 16 by Judge Barry Cohen. Ordinarily, the maximum sentence for all of the charges would be capped at 26 years, but prosecutors Cynthia Quiroz and Danielle Sherriff have asked to expand the sentence because Harris is a repeat felony offender.

During the trial, Sherriff argued Harris turned on Sims after Sims was being nice by giving Harris a ride in Sims' Chevrolet Malibu. The prosecutor said Harris decided to steal money from Sims, then squirted gasoline from a plastic bottle on Sims, and flicked a cigarette lighter as Sims tried to run away.

"I was literally covered with flames," Sims, of Boynton Beach, testified. He avoided serious burns by ripping off his burning shirt.

But Assistant Public Defender Erich Taylor blasted Sims as an eight-time convicted felon who had threatened Harris for Oxycodone pain pills and tried to strangle Harris. Sims had sold Harris marijuana earlier that same day.

When Sims, who was then heavier than Harris by 100 pounds, grabbed Harris' throat, Harris put the lighter on Sims' shirt sleeve, Taylor and Harris told the jury.

"I thought he was trying to kill me," Harris testified. "I was trying to escape."

Once Harris was free, he took Sims' Chevy. But police easily tracked the vehicle because it had the OnStar service.

With police closing in, Harris sped north on Interstate 95 at more than 100 mph, before taking the Blue Heron Boulevard and crashing, Sherriff said. But Harris then stole a Honda from a repair shop.

With the hood raised, Harris led police on another chase, before crashing in a Riviera Beach neighborhood and running off. After swimming across a lake, Harris was arrested, Sherriff said.

Harris said he only fled to avoid being caught with 130 Oxycodone pills; a charge that could bring a long prison sentence. He dumped the pills in the water.